84 FOUNDATIONS OF BOTANY 



XIV. THALICTRUM, L. 



Erect perennial herbs. Leaves compound, with stipules. 

 Flowers in panicles or racemes, often somewhat monoecious 

 or dioecious, wind-fertilized. Sepals 4-5, petal-like. Petals 

 none. Stamens many. Carpels few or many ; ovule 1. Fruit 

 a small head of akenes. [The following species are both 

 usually dioecious.] 



1. T, dioicum, L. EARLY MEADOW RUE. Plant 1-2 ft. high, 

 smooth and pale or with a bloom. Leaves all petioled, most of them 

 thrice compound in threes ; leaflets thin and delicate, roundish, 3-7- 

 lobed. Flowers in slender panicles, purplish or greenish ; staminate 

 ones with slender, thread-like filaments, from which hang the con- 

 spicuous yellowish anthers. Rocky woods and hillsides. 



2. T. polygamum, Muhl. TALL MEADOW RUE. Stems from 

 fibrous roots, tall and coarse, nearly or quite smooth, 4-8 ft. tall. 

 Leaves twice compound, those of the stem sessile, the others long- 

 petioled ; leaflets oval or oblong, often cordate, smooth or downy 

 beneath, quite variable in size on the same plant. Flowers small, 

 in large panicles. Sepals 4 or 5, white. Filaments club-shaped. 

 Akenes short-stalked. Thickets and meadows E. 



33. BERBERIDACE^. BARBERRY FAMILY. 



Herbs or shrubs. 'Leaves alternate, simple or compound, 

 usually without stipules. Sepals petal-like. Petals hypogy- 

 nous, distinct, their number some multiple of 2, 3, or 4, never 

 of 5. Stamens one opposite each petal, anthers opening by 

 2 uplifted lids. Pistil 1, 1-celled, ovules 2 or more. Fruit 

 a berry or capsule. 



I. BERBERIS, L. 



Spiny shrubs with yellow wood. Leaves spinous-toothed, 

 jointed on the very short petiole, often reduced to 3-7-cleft 

 spines. Flowers in racemes, solitary, or in pairs. Sepals 

 89, the outer minute. Petals 6, each with 2 nectar glands 

 at the base. Stamens 6. Ovules few. Berry 1-2-seeded ; 

 seeds bony-coated. 



1. B. vulgaris, L. COMMON BARBERRY. A shrub 4-6 ft. high. 

 Leaves obovate, spinous-serrate ; those on the old shoots mere 



